Former NASA Chief Of Staff George Whitesides Defeats CA Rep. Mike Garcia

Congressman Mike Garcia (R-CA) conceded the 27th District House race to former NASA chief of staff and former CEO of Virgin Galactic George Whitesides late on Monday, giving the Democrats their first flipped House seat in California this year.

Since the late 2010’s, the 27th House District, which covers Northwest L.A. County, including suburbs like Santa Clarita and the desert suburbs like Lancaster and Palmdale on the other side of Angeles National Forest, has been one of the most contentious districts in both California and the country. Rep. Garcia has headed up the District since 2020, and for the last 3 elections (Special 2020, 2020, and 2022) managed to beat out Democrat Christy Smith. Finally getting the hint that she is unelectable, Smith decided not to run this year, with Whitesides running instead.

Whitesides has managed to stay a few points ahead of Garcia all throughout the campaign. Whitesides also has more money on Garcia and an aerospace background that has been unique amongst recent candidates. While earlier polls had Whitesides up by as much as five points, the race narrowed in later months. In a September poll,  Whitesides was only up by two points, 48% to 46% with 6% undecided.

However, while many voters were going in Garcia’s direction, especially the usual groups this election like Latinos and disaffected Democratic voters, Whitesides not only held on to Democratic voters, but managed to keep many moderates and even made inroads into the GOP by promising to lower taxes, lower the cost of living, alter the Prop 47 crime law, take a strong stance on crime, and create a stronger border. He even went as far as to say the immigration system is broken. These DINO stances, mixed in with some core Democratic tenets such as being for abortion essentially made him more appealable to voters. His ads also described Garcia as “MAGA Mike Garcia”, winning over many former Los Angeles residents who had moved to the suburbs.

On election night, the race remained close. With 66% of the vote in, Garcia had a narrow 51%-49% lead over Whitesides. In total, it was only 115,772 to 111,005 votes. But the race then suddenly swung towards Whitesides as crucial mail-in ballots were counted. By Monday night 82% of the vote was in with Whitesides now up over Garcia 51.2% to 48.8%. In terms of votes in, it was 147,567 to 140,548. Outlets began deeming this too far a gap on Monday night, with Garcia agreeing, conceding the race shortly after the latest results came in.

“Representing the people of California’s 27th Congressional District the last 4.5 years has been an honor of a lifetime,” said Garcia Monday night. “I want to thank my family for making the sacrifices, and my team and my volunteers for working harder than any other team in the nation during this journey of providence. We achieved so much in a short period of time. We truly made history and saved lives. I’m proud of all we’ve done.”

Both Garcia and Whitesides where amicable about the results, with Whitesides later adding, “It’s the honor of a lifetime to be elected to serve our district in Congress and deliver for Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley, and the San Fernando Valley. Rep. Garcia called me earlier to concede the race, and I thanked him for his years of service to our district and to the nation. In Congress, you can count on me to fight to create more good local jobs, lower everyday costs, build safe communities, protect Social Security and Medicare, and protect reproductive freedom.”

While Democrats were happy about the House gain, it wasn’t the full sweep of the six contentious House races in California they were hoping for. So far, of the three called, the GOP has held on to two of them. And with the House only a few seats away from being a GOP majority for the next two years, the Democrats can’t afford to lose any more in California.

“The Democrats were not winning with Smith, who many felt was too far on the left against Garcia,” explained Anna Morgan, a pollster who keeps track of voter movements outside the city of Los Angeles, to the Globe on Tuesday. “They needed someone who could hold regular Democratic voters and appeal to Republicans and moderates. Specifically, those who were not for Trump. That’s why he coined “MAGA Mike Garcia”.

“You would have thought it wouldn’t have been much, but remember, this is still LA County. Whitesides only had to flip just enough of those centrist Republicans who were not fans of Trump. He had to take on many positions that will put him at odds with the vast majority of Democrats in Congess, but it worked. The seat flipped last night.

“He’ll have two years to show people in the district if he intends to vote that way now. If not, the GOP may put up Garcia again, or pick another Republican, and really point that out in ads. Whitesides is going to need to walk a fine line between now and 2026.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, control of the House is still unknown, with a handful of California House races still needing to be called.